title: Aspergillus felis sp. nov., an emerging agent of invasive aspergillosis in humans, cats, and dogs.
abstract: We describe a novel heterothallic species in Aspergillus section Fumigati, namely A. felis (neosartorya-morph) isolated from three host species with invasive aspergillosis including a human patient with chronic invasive pulmonary aspergillosis, domestic cats with invasive fungal rhinosinusitis and a dog with disseminated invasive aspergillosis. Disease in all host species was often refractory to aggressive antifungal therapeutic regimens. Four other human isolates previously reported as A. viridinutans were identified as A. felis on comparative sequence analysis of the partial β-tubulin and/or calmodulin genes. A. felis is a heterothallic mold with a fully functioning reproductive cycle, as confirmed by mating-type analysis, induction of teleomorphs within 7 to 10 days in vitro and ascospore germination. Phenotypic analyses show that A. felis can be distinguished from the related species A. viridinutans by its ability to grow at 45°C and from A. fumigatus by its inability to grow at 50°C. Itraconazole and voriconazole cross-resistance was common in vitro.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. vanessa.barrs@sydney.edu.au
authors.forename: Vanessa R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Barrs
authors.forename: Tineke M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: van Doorn
authors.forename: Jos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Houbraken
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kidd
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Martin
authors.forename: Maria Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Pinheiro
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: Janos
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Varga
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Samson
mesh_terms: D000391:Air Microbiology; D000818:Animals; D000935:Antifungal Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001228:Aspergillosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D001230:Aspergillus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000502:physiology*; D000077336:Caspofungin; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D002415:Cats; D021821:Communicable Diseases, Emerging / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000382:microbiology*; D004285:Dogs; D025141:Drug Resistance, Fungal; D054714:Echinocandins / Q000494:pharmacology; D015725:Fluconazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D005800:Genes, Fungal; D006801:Humans; D055666:Lipopeptides; D008297:Male; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008875:Middle Aged; D058885:Multilocus Sequence Typing; D010802:Phylogeny; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D012852:Sinusitis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000662:veterinary*
chemical_list: D000935:Antifungal Agents; D054714:Echinocandins; D055666:Lipopeptides; D015725:Fluconazole; D000077336:Caspofungin